


“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world”

by digthewriter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Clubbing, HP: EWE, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-29 14:58:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digthewriter/pseuds/digthewriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco is in the closet but is still quite curious about the gay lifestyle.  What happens when the first Muggle gay club Draco picks to attend and runs into the last person he wished to see? </p><p><b>Featured Book:</b> <span class="u">Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles</span></p>
            </blockquote>





	“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tsosh](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Tsosh).



> Thank you SW for the beta and being so thorough and encouraging. I apologise for the lack of SMUT.

  
  
From the Harry Potter Limited Edition   


"I am not bent," Draco told himself constantly. So why did he look at Roy Gillian's arse for an extra thirty seconds after he got out of the pool? _His bathing suit's got a nice pattern—again just admiring the design and the fabric—doesn't mean you're bent, at all._

After the war and his father’s death, Draco was responsible for taking care of his mother and starting a new career away from the bad publicity of being a Malfoy. Draco returned to Hogwarts, took all of his N.E.W.T.s, and excelled amazingly in almost every class except for the required Muggle Studies. At his graduation, Professor McGonagall gifted him _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_ along with a note that stated: _You might find yourself working with or for Muggles someday. Times are changing and it's about time you keep up with them_! Draco at first thought he was special, but then he realised that almost every Slytherin in his year had received that book. There was nothing special about him at all.

Using the Malfoy funds, Draco decided to partner with Nathaniel Prince, no relation to Snape's mother, and co-own the apothecary at Diagon Alley. He figured this was the least social interaction he could have in the Wizarding community given the horrible smell of bad eggs and cabbages. Anyone who entered the shop would only be there for business and would leave quickly enough.

Everything was going smoothly; Draco had just celebrated his twentieth birthday, his friends were doing well, and his mother was often taking a holiday in France, leaving Draco to his own discretion. Everything was great, or so he thought.

Draco made the mistake of reading the _Prophet_ every Sunday morning. It was the only time he'd allowed himself that torture—but he did it anyway. His father's words rung in his ears: _Proper pure-blood families are required to stay up to date in current events, yet not be overly knowledgeable that they seem desperate, so reading the paper once a week is enough. Unless you have a reason to be in the papers, one should not overly indulge themselves in the news of lesser beings_.

And there it was – out and proud – so to speak: “Harry Potter: A raging homosexual.”

*-*

> Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, recently finished his Auror training and is employed as a Junior Auror at the Ministry of Magic, was caught in a sexual act in the Men’s loo of the Leaky Cauldron with his partner, Lucas Hammond. The men were supposedly on their lunch break when a reporter saw them entering the loo one after the other. The _Prophet_ reporter, Sam Wade, followed the two junior Aurors with the thought that they might be on a case and instead he found them moaning and pleasuring each other in the toilet stall. Harry Potter reportedly now has been assigned a new partner and has teamed up with his longtime friend Ronald Weasley. Apparently it is against Ministry regulations for two individuals who are partners to be romantically involved. Lucas Hammond and Harry Potter have denied any comments, but those close to the two individuals have reported that they are, in fact, not a couple. It was a one off and they are perfectly happy to have been assigned to new partners. Lucas Hammond’s new partner Dean Thomas is reportedly also a heterosexual male similar to Ronald Weasley. Auror Thomas is engaged to Auror Weasley’s sister, Ginny Weasley, and Auror Weasley is reportedly courting Ministry employee, Hermione Granger.

*-*

Draco closed the newspaper and tossed it away. He’d had enough of ‘current events’ for the week. Bored with nothing to do and Pansy being on a breakfast date with a French dignitary and Blaise visiting Germany with his family, Draco decided to clean out his study. He could have easily asked his house-elves to do it, but he wanted to do it on his own. He wanted—needed—to remember his school days, let go of some of the past, and embrace the rest of it.

An hour later, Draco had nearly organised the study. He held onto his potion books, and all his books on Quidditch: _Beating the Bludgers—A Study of Defensive Strategies, Flying with the Cannons, Quidditch Through the Ages,_ and _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland_. He didn’t need it, but it was the first book his father had bought him, so Draco decided to also hold onto _Which Broomstick_?

At last, he’d found the box that had all of his Eighth Year books. He had almost forgotten about the one McGonagall had given him and his friends. Sitting back down on the floor, Draco leaned against his desk and opened up _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_. He skimmed through the first few chapters, subject matter he was already aware of, Habitation Habits, Food, Shopping, Supermarkets, Transportation, Sports. He stopped at the section marked “Lifestyle”, especially Chapter 12: Evening Entertainment

>   
>  Similar to balls and galas that wizards attend, Muggles are quite known for their evening entertainment. There are several venues under the category of “nightclubs” that Muggles visit for recreation. These _nightclubs_ also knows as a _discothèque_ , or simply a _club_ or _disco_ , often open their doors for business past nine o’clock in the evening.
> 
> Some Muggle restaurants open early for dinner and eventually are transformed into a _nightclub_ with the help of their Muggle staff, whose primary tasks are to clear the level of all furniture.
> 
> A _nightclub_ is different from a regular bar, pub or tavern, which are quite common in the Wizarding world, as these venues generally have an inclusion of a dance floor, a musical entertainer known as a _DJ_ , who plays various genres including _electronic, disco, hip hop, R &B, rock, reggae, _and _pop_ amongst a few. Various _nightclubs_ tend to cater to different genres of music.
> 
> There are venues that strictly play electronic dance music, along with venues that may only cater to a certain type of crowd. Various _nightclubs_ also participate in ‘theme’ nights such as: _costume_ , _couples only_ , or pertaining to one’s sexuality, for example, _gay clubs_ (for more information, see: section D).

-*-*-*-*-

Draco immediately closed the book when he read the words “gay clubs.” _I am not bent,_ he reminded himself. It was lunchtime and Draco decided to take a break. He hopped in the shower, as cleaning out the study had made him quite dirty, and decided to pop over to Pansy’s for lunch and hear all about her date.

The entire time Pansy talked about the Frenchman, Draco’s thoughts diverted towards the book he’d been reading. _Gay clubs_ , he thought. _Muggles were more out and in the open about their sexuality and they had venues where other gay Muggles mingled—and danced_. The thought intrigued Draco immensely. He was only used to the stuffy social shindigs his parents had taken him to and the closest thing he’d had to fun was Yule Ball in Fourth Year. _Maybe I should go and explore these venues. Learn about a new culture. McGonagall would be proud_.

 _I am just curious, not bent_.

After saying his goodbyes to Pansy, Draco returned home to read up more on Muggle culture. When he arrived at the Manor, he noticed that his house-elf Dimpy had cleaned up and organised the study for him. However, the _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_ was nowhere to be found. Draco hung his head low; he was utterly disappointed. He had left the book on the floor and Dimpy probably thought that it was to be discarded since he hadn’t placed it in the “books to keep” pile. He couldn’t yell at Dimpy even if he wanted to—he didn’t. After the war Draco had promised to be kind of his house-elves, something pure-blood wizards looked down upon, so he let it go.

Draco returned to his room and decided to take a nap. He’d have a conversation with his house-elf later about picking up on his projects when not instructed to do so. He could be firm with him about that.

When Draco retreated to his bedroom, he found a nice surprise. Dimpy had in fact placed the book on Draco’s nightstand.

“Dimpy!” Draco said and quickly the house-elf appeared.

“Yes, Master Draco, sir?” Dimpy said.

“Why did you put the book on my nightstand?” Draco was curious.

“Dimpy saw Master Draco reading it earlier, sir. So Dimpy thought that he could clean the study for Master Draco and Master Draco could have more time to read his book.” The house-elf had a look of fear plastered across his face.

“Thank you, Dimpy,” Draco said with a smile. Dimpy bowed and Disapparated.

Draco plopped himself on the bed and opened the book to the last page he had read: Various _nightclubs_ also participate in ‘theme’ nights such as: _costume_ , _couples only_ , or pertaining to one’s sexuality: _gay clubs_ (for more information, see: section D).

He immediately flipped over to section D.

*-*

> Chapter 12, section D: Gay clubs.
> 
> A _gay club_ is a _nightclub_ that prefers to cater to an exclusively male clientele. Often there are rooms in the back of these venues where various Muggles are allowed _discreetly_ to engage in sexual activities. The doormen at the clubs, often known as _bouncers_ , may deny entry to any person. Women or heterosexual individuals are not banned from frequenting the _gay club_ , however it is common practise for one to be accompanied by homosexual males in order to gain entry.
> 
> Many _nightclubs_ , especially _gay clubs_ , enforce a dress code in order to ensure a certain type of clientele is in attendance at the venue. Many upscale _nightclubs_ ban attendees from wearing trainers or denims, while other _nightclubs_ will advertise a vague "dress to impress" dress code that allows the _bouncers_ to discriminate at will against those vying for entry to the club.
> 
> Many exceptions are made to nightclub dress codes, with denied entry usually reserved for the most glaring rule breakers or those thought to be unsuitable for the party. Certain _nightclubs_ like fetish _nightclubs_ may apply a dress code (BDSM) to a leather-only, rubber-only or fantasy dress code.
> 
> For more information on events around the Metropolitan areas, Wizards are encouraged to refer to periodicals aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender communities. Some famous magazines include: _Attitude, Bent, Diva, Gay Times, Boyz, OUT THERE,_ and _reFRESH_.

*-*

_Great, more research._

-*-*-*-*-

The next morning Draco decided to venture out to his favourite Muggle café, the only Muggle café he frequented. The “introduction” to Muggle studies had told Wizards “one step at a time” when it came to integrating oneself in Muggle culture. “Go out to a café, a bookstore, the cinema—but not all on the same day.” Draco had only managed up to the cafés and he walked by a Muggle bookstore daily but never went inside.  
Before going to work in the morning, Draco planned on overcoming his fear and entering the bookshop. Then he was going to go to his favourite café, Café Casablanca. A quick cup of café Mocha—Draco was addicted—then he’d do “research” in his downtime at the Apothecary.

Since he was going to be spending time with Muggles in the morning, Draco opted against dressing in Wizarding robes. He looked for a pair of black trousers with a black button-down shirt and a green tie. Draco entered WHSmith at nine o’clock sharp. He was the only person the shop besides the few employees.

“Hello, can I help you with anything?” a young shopkeeper asked him.

“Yes, I am looking for a magazine of sorts," Draco said. He was unsure of how to ask for information on _gay magazines_.

“What kind of a magazine?” she asked, smiling.

“For–entertainment,” Draco uttered.

“Adult entertainment?” the woman asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe – but – not like that – magazines that have information on a specific type of culture – of people – and – information on entertainment around town?” Draco said, doing the best he could trying to explain what he was looking for.

“For adult entertainment?” she asked.

“Yes, for adults. I doubt they have periodicals for children in the genre of homosexuality!” Draco retorted. _What is with her and the obsession on adult entertainment_?

“ _Attitude_?” she asked.

“Excuse me, if anyone is giving me attitude, it is you, Madam,” Draco snapped.

“No, I mean, you’re looking for magazines like _Attitude_. Or _Boyz_?”

“Yes, precisely,” Draco said, clearing his throat. He felt embarrassed.

“This way.” The woman pointed towards a small walkway on the right and walked Draco to the end where there was a small rack of magazines with shirtless men and women that were dressed as men.

“This is all?” Draco asked.

“Yes, we don’t really have a big clientele for this _culture_ ,” the woman said. “If you’re really looking for the good stuff,” she lowered her voice, “I’d recommend _Time Out_ —it is London's only lesbian and gay bookshop.”

“Oh, very well. Thank you for your assistance, this shall do for now.” Draco smiled at her and watched her walk away before he picked up one of the magazines.

Fifteen minutes later with his selections, Draco walked up to the counter to pay for three periodicals he’d decided upon. _Boyz_ had information on clubs around the city with information on what theme nights were implemented where. _Out There_ discussed the arts, activism, fashion and travel. _Gay Times_ simply had pictures of lots of shirtless Muggle men. Still he wasn’t bent. His interests were purely academic, of course.

“So will this be cash or card?” the woman asked.

“I am sorry? Oh, you mean—cash, I suppose. I haven’t got a Mug—I mean a _credit card_.” Draco flustered on his words.

After Draco paid for the three magazines, he headed to Café Casablanca. He was at the Apothecary by half past ten. To be safe, Draco placed a ‘ _notice—me—not_ ’ Charm on his magazines just in case any one of the employees would be curious about the contents of the WHSmith bag and opened it.

Draco sat in the staff lounge at half past two, his first and only break for the day. Dimpy had been kind enough to deliver lunch and Draco was eternally grateful for that. He ate his sandwich while he looked through _Boyz_ and he was overwhelmed. There was something scheduled at three different nightclubs every night from Thursday to Sunday.

His concentration was broken when Prince came in blubbering about an emergency, being unable to find a certain potion. Draco put the magazine away, restoring the Charms on the bag, and went to the front of the shop. He wouldn’t be free for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to go home at seven o’clock.

Much to his surprise, the person who had gotten Prince all flustered was Potter.

“Potter!” Draco exclaimed, immediately cursing himself for not acting unconcerned. The news from the _Prophet_ flashed in front of Draco’s eyes and he felt as though he might lose his balance for a moment.

“Malfoy,” Potter said. Of course he was quite blasé. “We are researching the following ingredients that a suspect might have used to create a deadly potion; do you think you’ll be able to help?” He handed Draco a piece of parchment that had five ingredients listed.

“These are all ingredients used to create a poisoned vermin trap that can be harmful for wizards if swallowed. Well I suppose it’s harmful for Muggles as well, if swallowed,” Draco said. “These ingredients aren’t hard to come by and you don’t necessarily need to purchase them at a high-end Apothecary such as this one. One can purchase them at various shops around Diagon Alley—if they were looking to cover their tracks.”

“That’s what you thought,” said the other Auror who accompanied Potter; he had dark brown eyes and short auburn hair. It wasn’t Weasley; Draco remembered reading that Weasley was Potter’s new partner, so who was this bloke?

“You’re right, Lucas,” Potter said and Draco raised an eyebrow. Potter caught Draco’s expression and he immediately straightened his face. “Just wanted to be sure. Thanks for all your help, Malfoy.”

“Gentlemen,” Draco said as the Aurors left the shop. He tried not to pay close attention to Lucas Hammond who had a fit arse, if Draco had watched him walk away that is, which he totally did not.

“Why couldn’t you just tell them what the list would brew?” Draco asked, turning to Prince.

“I would have, but they insisted on speaking to you. They said it was a ‘complicated matter.’ I didn’t know they were looking for a poisonous vermin trap!” Prince said. “I am sorry I interrupted your lunch, Draco.”

Draco smiled. Prince was an old and kind man, daft, but kind. “It’s not a problem, Prince. It’s nearly half past three, why don’t you head on home? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Prince nodded and walked away. The rest of the day went by smoothly; it wasn’t terribly busy but Draco still had a lot of work to catch up on. At seven o’clock, he closed up shop and returned home.

That night after dinner, Draco stayed awake in his bed well into the night reading each magazine through and through. He knew more about the LGBT culture of Britain than he cared for, but he, for some odd reason, truly cared for it. He decided that on Thursday night he was going to venture out to a particular gay club. He just couldn’t decide which one.

He came across several names in the magazines and read the descriptions several times. He finally decided to go to Casablanca. The Muggle gay club was on the opposite side of town from his favourite café, but the familiarity of the name stayed with Draco and he thought of it as a sign. He was going to _Club Casablanca_ on Thursday. Next endeavour before Thursday night would be finding the right attire.

-*-*-*-*-

Tuesday went by in a blur and Wednesday wasn’t looking very promising either. On Wednesday night, before heading home from the Apothecary, Draco sent Pansy an emergency owl and asked to meet her at the Manor as soon as possible. An hour later, Dimpy announced Pansy’s arrival to Draco. Draco was utterly relieved.

“Draco, what’s the big emergency?” Pansy asked worriedly.

“I am going out tomorrow night to a Muggle nightclub and I need help with what to wear. I didn’t have a chance to shop at Madam Malkin’s new shop _Muggle Attire_ , so I want you to help me pick out something from what I’ve got.”

“Where are you going?” Pansy asked.

“This club, it’s called Casablanca,” Draco answered. He pointed at the magazines that were by his nightstand. “I know what you’re thinking, but—”

“Yes, you’re not bent,” Pansy said. She picked up one of the magazines and started to sift through the pages. She eventually stood up and walked to Draco’s wardrobe. “This... and this,” she said, throwing a pair of dark denims and a short-sleeved V-neck shirt at him.

“Are you sure?” Draco asked. “What about my Dark Mark? The sleeves are too—”

“Muggles are not going to care about your Dark Mark,” Pansy said. “They’ll think it’s cool!” She smiled softly at him. “I am glad you’re doing this, Draco. I mean, venturing out, doing something different.”

Draco beamed at her. “But you’re sure though, this seems all so—simple.”

“I looked through the magazine, there are articles on what the modern gay Brit is looking for in a man. _Simplicity is key_ ,” she answered and bubbled up.

Draco threw his short-sleeved shirt at her as she was mocking him. The rest of the evening went by smoothly as they shared a few glasses of wine before Pansy Flooed home. Draco wouldn’t really care what a modern gay Brit would want—he wasn’t bent. But he decided to stick with the advice anyway.

-*-*-*-*-

Draco arrived at Casablanca at half past ten. Even though the club opened at nine o’clock, Draco learned enough from reading articles at _Gay Times_ that no one arrived before half past ten, especially when making an entrance was all the rage.

Draco walked up to the bouncer and showed him his Charmed identification card. Chapter 12, section B of _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_ stated that Muggles often relied on identification cards at various establishments where alcohol was involved. Though if you frequented a pub or a club long enough, they’d stop asking for it, but if it were one’s first time visiting, Wizards needed to make sure that they carried one with them. There were even instructions on how to create a magical identification card to match a Muggle one.

“First time?” the bouncer asked.

“Yes,” Draco answered nervously.

“No cover,” the bouncer announced.

“I beg your pardon?” Draco was confused for a moment.

“Casablanca policy, mate. If it’s your first time, then there’s no cover charge. Enjoy the night.” The bouncer all but pushed Draco aside and gestured for the bloke behind him to show identification.

“I suggest you go in before he changes his mind,” a young man with strawberry blond hair and similar height to Draco’s spoke. He pulled on Draco’s arm and took him through the doors. “Blimey, you look like a deer caught in the headlights,” the man added.

“I am sorry, I am not quite sure what that means,” Draco said hesitantly.

“Exactly,” the bloke laughed before he spoke again. “I am Mark, Mark Bradbury.”

“Draco Malfoy, pleasure.” Draco felt a bit at ease and smiled at Mark. “Sorry, as you may have heard —”

“First time, yeah. Even if I hadn’t heard it—” Mark smiled again and pulled Draco towards the bar. “Can I buy you a drink, Draco?”

“Sure, but I think you should know,” Draco spoke uncertainly as Mark stared at him with a blank expression, “I am not bent.”

“So what are you doing here?” Mark asked. A valid question, of course.

“Research, of sorts. I was curious,” Draco answered cautiously. He was nervous. He was sure this bloke would laugh at his face as some of his friends had. He’d simply shown interest in gay culture, it really didn’t mean he was gay.

“Curiosity,” Mark said, “that’s how we all start!” He smiled and looked at the bartender and gestured the ‘two’ sign. Shortly after, he had two small drinks in his hands and he handed one to Draco.

“What is it?” Draco asked. “I mean, thank you.” _Bloody manners, Draco_.

“It’s called _The Godfather_ ,” Mark said as he sipped on the drink and Draco followed. It was not bad.

“It’s quite good,” Draco said, smiling. “You’ll have to allow me to buy you the next one,” he added.

Mark nodded. “So not much of a drinker are you either, Draco Malfoy?”

“No, I do drink, just —” _Butterbeer, no – Firewhisky, no that doesn’t sound Muggle either._ “Wine. Red wine, mostly with my best friend, Pansy.”

“Pansy? Is that code for your non-boyfriend?” Mark teased.

Draco couldn’t help but laugh at the taunt. “She’d kill you if she heard you said that. She’s really just a friend–who is a girl–and she’s dating a French dignitary.”

“Ooh, red wine and French dignitaries. You don’t dress like you come from money,” Mark commented.

“Simplicity is key,” Draco answered, relieved he’d listened to Pansy.

Mark looked into Draco’s eyes and Draco smiled again. Shortly after, his gaze looked away as though he was eyeing someone approaching them. Draco didn’t turn to look. He was enjoying his first Muggle drink ever.

“I should have known you’d be the first to jump on a newbie, Mark.” Draco knew that voice, it was all too familiar. _No it couldn’t be_. Draco panicked and turned to the man standing next to him and, Merlin wasn’t doing Draco any favours, he was looking right into the emerald green eyes of Harry _bloody_ Potter.

“Don’t bother, Harry,” Mark said. “He’s not bent.”

“Malfoy?” Potter exclaimed.

“Potter?” Draco all but screamed. The drink had hit him already. He should have had more to eat.

“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world—”

“What—in the _bloody hell_ are you doing here?” Draco asked.

“This is a gay club, and I am a gay... person,” Potter said. “What are you doing here? Mark tells me you’re not even bent.”

“I am not,” Draco said. “I just wanted to—I was reading the book McGonagall gave us, I mean me, I mean our house —”

“Mark,” Potter spoke, looking at Draco’s new friend. He nodded and stood up from his bar stool.

“It was nice to meet you, Draco, I’ll fetch you for that drink later on!” Mark said as he smiled graciously again at Draco and walked away. Draco tried to utter the words _Thanks again_ , but Mark had already disappeared in the crowd.

“So why are you really here, Malfoy?” Potter asked.

“Did you solve your case—the mysterious occurrence of the poisoned vermin trap?” Draco asked. “And I thought I heard Weasley was your partner now, not Lucas Hammond.”

Potter raised an eyebrow and Draco immediately felt foolish. “You’re reading up on me?”

“ _No_!” Draco snapped. “It was in the _Sunday Prophet_ and I glanced at it. It’s not my fault you’re always in the bloody news, Potter.”

“It’s not my fault that the _Prophet_ finds everything I do newsworthy and you have to suffer reading about it,” Potter retorted. He looked over towards the crowd and let out a huge grin. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my date is here and I am going to dance. I would ask you to join us, but seeing as you’re not bent, someone might get the wrong idea.”

 _Right_.

Draco sank back in his seat and watched Potter hug some bloke that definitely wasn’t Lucas Hammond. They kissed briefly and disappeared in the dancing crowd. Mark approached a few moments later and Draco bought them another round of _The Godfather_. Afterwards, Mark took Draco to upper level of the club where from the balcony you could see the whole venue. It was huge. Mark told Draco that he liked coming to the balcony because it was good for people watching. Draco agreed.

Draco spotted Potter, really that set of hair was hard to miss, and his _date_ dancing, arms intertwined in each other’s necks. Soon they switched positions and the other man, _blue shirt_ , was grinding on Potter and he seemed to be enjoying it. 

“So, how do you know Harry?” Mark asked. He must have noticed where Draco was staring.

“We went to school together,” Draco answered simply. “I had no idea that he’d be here, of all the clubs I had to randomly pick from, I can’t believe he’s at the same one!”

“And you two have never—”

“What? Gods, no!” Draco nearly shrieked. “Up until Sunday, I didn’t even know he was—and I am not—”

“Yes, I gathered that,” Mark replied.

“I should go,” Draco said. He felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. Mark had been great company, he was truly sweet and thoughtful, but seeing Potter had flustered Draco and he didn’t wish for his night to keep getting worse. He glanced over at Potter’s direction and saw him and _blue shirt_ snogging. Now he definitely needed to leave.

“Alright,” Mark spoke a bit disappointedly. “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow night?”

“I am not too sure about that,” Draco replied. “But, thank you for being so nice, Mark. It genuinely was a pleasure to meet you.”

“So, not bent huh?” Mark teased as he grabbed Draco’s hand and kissed it. “It’s a shame.”

Draco laughed. “Maybe we can have coffee sometime, as friends?”

Mark’s face lit up. “Definitely. I definitely don’t have enough coffee friends.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and a Muggle pen. “Here, this is my number. I don’t have a mobile yet but you can reach me there or leave me a message.”

“Right,” Draco said, taking the piece of paper. _Note to self: look up Muggle forms of communication_.

Mark pulled Draco into a hug and then walked away. Draco made his way down the steps to the front of the club and headed out. When he was out in the alleyway, almost ready to Disapparate home, he felt a pull on his arm.

“Malfoy, you’re leaving so soon?” Potter, of all the people, had chased after Draco.

“Yeah, it’s past midnight, and I’ve got to open up the shop,” Draco said. _Not that I need to make an excuse to you_ , he thought.

“Oh, are you going to come by tomorrow?” Potter asked.

“Mark just asked me the same thing,” Draco noted. “What’s so special about tomorrow?”

“It’s my birthday,” Potter said.

“Oh,” Draco uttered. Why was Potter telling Draco this? They weren’t friends.

“Well my birthday’s on Sunday, but tomorrow is also my one year anniversary of coming to Casablanca, so it’s kind of a special night,” Potter added.

“I’m – I’m not sure,” Draco said. “We’re not exactly friends and this sounds like something more personal. You’re not spending your birthday with Granger and the Weasel?”

“I am,” Potter said. “Spending the day with _Hermione_ and _Ron_ , but this is at night.”

“I’ll see, Potter. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea if I visit two nights in a row,” Draco responded. He glared at Potter. His comment from earlier about not dancing because he’s not bent really upset him.

“Why did you really come here, Malfoy?” Potter asked.

“Not that it’s any of your business, Potter, but if you must know, I am tired of the same old routine. Unless I speak to the few friends I have left, I don’t really speak to anyone. I wanted a change of environment. I wanted somewhere new to go, somewhere where no one knows me. So I did some research, am doing some research, and found some clubs I wish to explore, part of my own lifestyle I wish to evaluate. So I came to a gay club. What’s it to you?”

He nodded curtly and turned around and walked away. Moments later he Disapparated. Short of running into Potter, he actually had had a pretty decent time.

-*-*-*-*-

Draco didn’t actually have to open up shop on Friday. He had the day off; he’d simply made that excuse to leave the club without sounding as though he was scared, which he was. He woke up the next morning and decided upon brushing up on Muggle forms of communication. He consulted the book again and after breakfast headed out to Muggle London to use a phone booth. He was going to ring up Mark.

“Hello?” Mark answered the phone after the second ring, and Draco recognised his voice right away.

“Mark? This is Draco... Malfoy. From last night,” Draco said into the phone, wondering if his voice was audible. He’d read in the book that Muggles spoke into the phone with a normal tone and that shouting was unnecessary.

“Oh—of course Draco, I remember,” Mark said, his voice sounded enthusiastic.

“Listen, I was wondering—I’ve got the afternoon free and wanted to know if you’ll go shopping with me. I haven’t exactly—I mean—I don’t know—” Draco was flustered. How was he supposed to tell this Muggle that he needed Muggle clubbing attire?

“Okay, Draco. Meet me outside _Drift_ on Oxford Street, and we can start from there. There are plenty of shops on Oxford. I am sure we’ll find something for you,” Mark answered.

“Great, see you there in an hour?” Draco asked and Mark agreed.

After he hung up on the phone, Draco was relieved. If he were to go back to Casablanca that night or some other club, he’d have new clothes. Now he simply needed to return to the newly renovated Gringotts and exchange more Galleons for Muggle money. _How much does one need for clothes shopping_? Draco was in luck, the currency exchange department in New Gringotts had informational brochures on “Shopping in the Muggle World.” An intense feeling of relief encompassed Draco.

When Draco arrived at _Drift_ , Mark was already there waiting for him. Mark jumped up to hug Draco again and Draco was confounded. He’d never seen people hug this much outside of Gryffindor House. Draco began to wonder if Mark was a Wizard, what House he would have been Sorted into.

Mark knew the employees at _Drift_ and they were easily able to help him pick out some clothes to try. After _Drift_ they went to _Urban Outfitters, Gap_ , and _Dimensions_. Draco had managed to purchase three pairs of denims, two black trousers and a handful of shirts. Mark tried on a shirt at _Dimensions_ that Draco thought fit him really well.

“You should get it!” Draco encouraged Mark.

“I can’t—I can’t afford it,” Mark confessed with a sad face as he began to take it off and hang it back on the hanger.

“Let me buy it for you then,” Draco said. “You’ve wasted your entire afternoon on me, allow me to give it to you as a gift.”

“I can’t.” Mark hesitated.

“Please, I insist,” Draco said again and grabbed the shirt from Mark’s hand and turned to the associate. “All of these please and place this one in a separate bag.” He turned to look at Mark who seemed humbled. “Lunch?” Draco asked, ignoring Mark’s reaction. He was grateful that Mark had offered to spend time with him and had been wonderful company.

“So you’ll come tonight then?” Mark asked as they ate their lunch at Luna Café on Bedford Street.

“I am not sure, I might go somewhere else for the night. I need to see more of the scene before I settle on a place I wish to patronise,” Draco said nonchalantly. He had been thinking about returning to Casablanca an awful lot. He wished to see Potter’s interaction with Muggles, he wanted to know how Wizards could do it so easily. But then he remembered that Potter hadn’t grown up in the Wizarding world, he’s been acquainted to it after Hogwarts.

“I think you should come, anyway. It’ll be a lot of fun. It’s Harry’s birthday party, you know.”

“Yeah, he’s informed me,” Draco spoke again, his tone continuing to be unconcerned.

After lunch, which Draco also insisted on paying for, Mark and Draco hugged goodbye and Draco searched for the closest Apparition point to go home. He was excited to show his new wardrobe to Pansy.

-*-*-*-*-

Draco didn’t like to admit it, but he was a creature of habit. He’d already familiarised himself with _Club_ Casablanca that the thought of going to a new place and starting over didn’t seem appealing for the night. He figured venturing to a new venue could be saved for another weekend. “One step at a time,” he reminded himself.

He dressed in his new clothes and headed out to Casablanca. He arrived again at half past ten to find that Mark had been waiting by the door. They hadn’t planned on meeting up in advance, but Draco was glad for the coincidence. Mark took Draco’s hand and walked past the line that had formed around the club’s entrance. He turned to the bouncer and said, “He’s with me,” pointing at Draco and the bouncer nodded.

Draco had got in the club again free of charge and this time didn’t even have to wait in line. This was the kind of treatment Draco was used to as a Malfoy, and the feeling of nostalgia came across him and the thought of how much he missed his father. He wasn’t the best parent in the world, but having no father is worse than having a obstinate one.

“Malfoy, you came,” Potter said as soon as they’d entered the hall and Mark waved at him.

“Mark insisted upon it,” Draco said.

“I am glad he did,” Potter answered. Draco nodded and walked away to the bar. Mark followed.

They ordered two new drinks and Draco finally relaxed. Shortly after, Draco told Mark that he wanted to go up to the balcony again and do more of _people watching_. Mark nodded and followed him.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Draco said. “I mean, I welcome the company, but I don’t want you to have to feel like you need to always hold my hand.”

“I like being with you, you’re funny,” Mark answered. “If you want me to leave you alone, just say—”

“No, please, stay,” Draco interrupted.

They stood around the balcony for around a half hour as the waitress stopped by and refilled their drinks. Draco watched people dancing with fascination. This was, everything was, just so different than what he was used to. Men, hand in hand, embracing, dancing, snogging—it was—for lack of a better word, _captivating_.

“Do you want to dance?” Mark asked, breaking Draco’s concentration.

“No, I can’t—”

“Yes you can,” Mark said. “Just come with me.” He pulled on Draco’s arm as he finished the last of his drink and soon they were on the dance floor. Mark placed his arm around Draco and smiled. “Just ease into it, there’s no pressure,” he said.

Draco nodded. This too was also so different than the Yule Ball he’d gone to with Pansy. Draco held on to Mark’s waist and they both slowly moved to the music. “There you go,” Mark whispered and grinned immediately after.

Draco finally completely relaxed and they danced together for a few more songs as other blokes came around them and tried to dance with them. Mark jokingly tried to shoo them off and Draco laughed. They eventually returned to the bar for another round of drinks.

“You know, Draco, if you keep buying me drinks, I’ll think that your intentions aren’t really so noble,” Mark said.

“Oh, I assure you—” Draco hesitated.

“I am simply teasing, Draco. Relax!” Mark said again. He’d told Draco to relax at least a dozen times in the past two nights.

“Sorry, it’s been a while since—I’ve _relaxed_ ,” Draco said. _Since sixth year, actually_ , Draco thought. The pressure of killing Dumbledore, becoming a Death Eater, the war, then redeeming oneself after the war—who would have time to relax?

“Want to go again?” Mark asked, pointing at the dance floor.

“I think I’ll just stay here, but why don’t you go ahead. I see that bloke in red eyeing you,” Draco said. Mark grinned and kissed Draco on the cheek and practically sprinted away. Soon after, he had his waist wrapped around with _red shirt_ ’s arms and they seemed lost in the moment. Draco might have felt a pang of jealousy. Not for Mark, he wasn’t interested in Mark like that, that’s why it was so easy to be friends with him. But just from the entire ordeal. Everyone was so at ease with everyone else—even if it was just for one night—and no one seemed to really care. It was incredible.

“You looked nice out there,” Potter interrupted Draco’s solitude. Draco scoffed. “No, I mean it, Malfoy. Mark’s a great bloke, I am glad you’re getting along so well with him.”

“We are just friends,” Draco snapped.

“I know, I didn’t mean it like that—" Potter sighed. “I just meant it’s nice to see you having fun, that’s all.”

“What does that mean?” Draco retorted again.

“Just that I haven’t really seen you in your element—having fun in a very long time. When I stopped by your shop the other day, I just saw how dedicated you were to the job. I wondered if you ever had any fun anymore.” Potter took a seat next to Draco on the bar stool.

“It’s not your job to look out for me,” Draco said. “The war is over, the trials are over, you are not indebted to me—"

“I know, but I can still care, Draco,” Potter said. Draco hated that he’d just called him by his given name. Why was Potter making this so personal?

“I’ve found someone else to care for me,” Draco said, pointing at Mark snogging _red shirt_. “Thank you, very much.” He laughed, realising how ridiculous he sounded. Potter joined him.

“Do you want to dance?” Potter asked, shocking Draco.

“No, thanks,” Draco said. “I am not bent,” he added with a smirk.

-*-*-*-*-

A week passed, and Draco returned to his daily life of being an apothecary owner and on Thursday night again he returned to Casablanca. He still went to the club on Thursdays and Fridays and spent only a handful of hours there. Mostly dancing with Mark. Slowly he visited other clubs on Saturday nights, but realised that since he’d made friends at Casablanca, it had more of “home” feeling for him.

Draco still only drank with Mark and sometimes with Potter, and in the beginning only danced with Mark. Eventually, Draco began to accept dancing invitations with other blokes, but still kept on his resolve of not being “bent.”

On Sundays, Draco made it a habit of having lunch with Mark. A few weeks after that, Potter started joining them. Though Draco wasn’t too excited about seeing Potter frequently in the beginning, he eventually got used to his company. If there were days when Potter didn’t make the lunch Draco scheduled with Mark, Draco caught himself feeling disappointed. He hated himself on those days.

The routine continued for several months. Draco frequented his favourite café and his favourite club. He made exceptions once in a while, but otherwise stuck to his routine. He was often indecisive when it came to Muggle clothes shopping and continued to recruit Mark for his help.

Everything changed the night Draco did the unthinkable—considering how he _wasn’t bent_.

It was a cold night in October. It wasn’t scheduled to rain—yes, Draco had got used to weather predictions on the telly at his favourite Muggle pub—but surprisingly it did. Draco was drenched due to the unscheduled thunderstorm and walked into Casablanca dripping. He had his wand with him, but he was seen by a few of his friends and he thought it would look dodgy if he excused himself to the loo and then spelled himself dry. He entered the loo and tried to dry himself off with the paper towels that were in the dispenser. He half-managed, cursing the entire time. He heard sniggering behind him.

A dark haired bloke around Draco’s age was smiling at him. He wore square-rimmed glasses that rather emphasised his blue eyes.

“What are you laughing at?” Draco hissed. He wasn’t in a mood to be polite.

“I’ve never heard anyone curse as much as you—especially when I don’t even understand half the things you’re saying,” the blue-eyed man responded. His smile stayed intact and Draco noticed he was definitely staring at the wet shirt where it clung to his chest.

Draco figured Muggles would have a hard time understanding _Merlin’s beard_ or _troll bogies_ amongst other things he’d uttered that weren’t so juvenile.

“Yeah, sorry. I just didn’t expect to get so severely soaked on my way here. It’s really going to ruin my night, especially if I get infected with Scrofungulus,” Draco said.

“Scrofun— _what_?” the man asked.

“Oh, never mind. It’s a rare disease amongst my people,” Draco said, trying to divert from wizardry talk.

“Who are your people? Gorgeous blonds with captivating eyes?” the man said.

 _Smooth_ , Draco thought. _Wait, he’s flirting with me and I am... allowing it_.

“Hardly,” Draco said, attempting to rub his hands on his arms in efforts to warm himself.

“Why don’t you just use the dryer?” the man asked, approaching Draco and pointing at a metallic square posted against the wall. “Give me your shirt,” the man spoke again. Draco raised his eyebrow but removed his shirt. As the man took Draco’s shirt, he gawkily stared at Draco’s physique. Draco cleared his throat. “Right, sorry.”

The man placed Draco’s shirt under the metallic square and pushed a button. The object in question roared startling Draco for a moment. _Blue eyes_ —as Draco called him in his head now, kept rotating Draco’s shirt under the object and it seemed as though air was emitting through. _Oh, that’s what that is for_ , Draco thought to himself. _That’s quite clever_.

Five minutes later, as _blue eyes_ continued to push the button every time the object would stop roaring, he finally returned the shirt to Draco. “Be careful, it might be a bit hot.”

After putting the warm shirt back on himself, he tingled with amusement. But there was still the matter with his denims. How was he going to dry them?

“Thanks,” Draco said to _blue eyes_ with a smile. They stood awkwardly in the loo for several minutes until Draco spoke again. “I’ve got to—” Draco pointed at the stall next to them and nodded.

“Okay, maybe I’ll see you on the dance floor,” _blue eyes_ said.

“Alright,” Draco uttered before closing the toilet stall door behind him. He quietly took out his wand and placed a drying spell on his denims. His shirt was still a bit soaked and he could tell people he dried it under the dryer and his denims were dark enough that no one would notice. He grinned to himself and thought about _blue eyes_. He never did catch his name.

Draco eventually left the loo and spotted Mark at the bar. “Took you long enough,” Mark said as Draco approached him, handing him a drink.

“I—got caught in the rain and had to dry myself and this bloke—” Draco looked around searching for _blue eyes_ “—helped me out with the dryer.”

Mark nodded as he took a sip of his drink. “Was he cute?” he asked.

“Sure,” Draco responded.

“Hey.” Draco heard someone behind him and turned to look. It was _blue eyes_.

“Hi again,” Draco said. “Thanks again for all your help.” _Blue eyes_ nodded and looked towards Mark. “Oh, this is Mark, Mark this is—” _uh—blue eyes_.

“Sebastian, pleasure to meet you,” _blue eyes_ , aka Sebastian, said. Mark smiled, shaking his hand.

“Oh, I am Draco…Draco Malfoy,” Draco introduced himself, offering his hand to shake Sebastian’s who shook it firmly and lingered as he let go. Draco was intrigued.

“Do you want to dance?” Sebastian asked. 

Draco shrugged and said, “sure.”

“You should know, he’s not bent,” Mark said, smiling. It had been his ceremonial comment to anyone that had asked Draco to dance with him. Sebastian had been the only one who didn’t seem unsettled by the remark.

“I’ll take my chances,” Sebastian said as he drew Draco to the middle of the club.

Sebastian was a bit shorter than Draco and his ability to smile with his eyes kept Draco captivated though Draco wasn’t that fond of his hair. Sebastian’s hair oddly reminded Draco of Potter. It seemed that keeping a head of hair untamed was all the rage in speccy men. Draco mentally cursed himself for immediately thinking about Potter.

“Is everything alright?” Sebastian asked as Draco had stopped moving and his grasp around Sebastian’s neck had tightened.

“No, sorry. I mean, yes, everything’s fine. Just got distracted for a moment,” Draco said, flustered.

Sebastian smiled again and tightened his arms around Draco’s waist and pulled him closer. “Good, I was worried you had changed your mind,” he said. Draco raised an eyebrow in response but didn’t say anything. They danced without exchanging words for the next few moments as Sebastian continued to pull Draco closer and closer.

Soon they were hip to hip. Sebastian’s right leg was in between Draco’s and Draco’s right leg was brushing against Sebastian’s groin. There wasn’t a doubt that the other man was turned on and Draco was doing his best ignoring it. Sebastian had been the first man so close to Draco’s body. Even when Draco danced with Mark, they never dared get this close and other men Draco had danced with knew to keep their distance. Sebastian was being bold—and Draco liked it.

The third song that Draco and Sebastian were dancing to had a slower beat. Draco rested his head on Sebastian’s shoulder and Sebastian took the liberty to slide his hand up Draco’s back. The first thing Draco thought of when that happened was that it was a very ‘Potter move.’ Draco had watched Potter dance with other men. Potter often stated to him and Mark that he liked feeling his dance partner’s skin because it allowed him to imagine and recognise whether or not he would want to feel his body naked against theirs. That’s apparently how Potter determined whether or not he was going to take that bloke home for the night.

Draco immediately took his head off of Sebastian’s shoulder and stared into his eyes. He was searching for something; he just didn’t know what yet.

“What?” Sebastian said.

“I am not going home with you tonight,” Draco declared.

“I—uh—” Sebastian uttered. “That wasn’t my intention. I don’t—” he paused again. “I don’t usually take men home from the club. I— _if_ I was interested in you, I would have asked you to dinner or to the cinema first.”

 

_Oh._

 

“Good,” Draco said with determination. “Also, _if_ you were interested in me?” He scoffed, causing Sebastian to laugh.

“Okay, I’ll admit. I am interested in you,” Sebastian confessed. “I’ve been watching you—I mean I’ve seen you around and I’ve seen how you are with all the blokes here. At first, I thought you were just playing ‘hard to get’ until I realised that you just—are.”

Draco didn’t respond. He was truly speechless. He wouldn’t know what to say if he had opened his mouth to say something. Their bodies hadn’t separated and Sebastian still had his hand up Draco’s back as Draco held onto Sebastian with his right arm. They continued to move slowly to the music.

He wasn’t supposed to be bent, right?

“I—”

Sebastian leaned in and softly kissed Draco. That was Draco’s first kiss—with a man. Draco wasn’t bent, so naturally he’d never kissed a bloke before and the only girls he had ever kissed were Pansy and Millicent and that was to supposedly make Pansy jealous. Pansy didn’t get upset with him after he kissed Millie; if anything, she was glad. She’d told him that she wanted to break it off and she just didn’t know how. They continued being friends and were still friends.

But this kiss, it wasn’t anything like kissing Pansy or Millie. Draco closed his eyes and released a small breath of air through his lips. This was sort of an important event in his life, the turning point. There was no going back now. He felt the set of lips on his again. Sebastian took the liberty of kissing Draco again since Draco didn’t pull himself away. This time Draco kissed him back. The second kissed lasted seconds longer than the first, and Sebastian’s grasp on Draco tightened yet again.

Draco opened his eyes and saw the blue eyes searching his face as though they were waiting for a reaction.

“Your eyes—they’re incredibly blue,” Draco said.

“I think your eyes are incredibly amazing,” Sebastian answered. Draco smiled. He wasn’t really sure why he thought this, but his first instinct had been that Sebastian would have uttered something about “having his mother’s eyes.” It was a phrase Draco had heard frequently. It was the second well-known fact about Potter. He was ‘the boy who lived’ and had his ‘mother’s eyes’.

“Is that a common trait in your family?” Draco asked. “Your eyes?”

“I suppose,” Sebastian answered. “Both my parents have blue eyes.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss Draco again. Suddenly Draco heard a beeping sound. He thought his ears were ringing until Sebastian let go of him and looked at his left hand wrist. “Oh, I am so sorry, I’ve got to run.”

“Pardon?”

“I set the alarm on my watch,” Sebastian stated, “I’ve got a flight to catch in the morning and I had promised myself that I wouldn’t stay out too late. But, I wanted to—” Sebastian paused for a moment, “I wanted to see you. I’ll be gone for a week and I had promised myself I’d talk to you today.”

“Right, because you’d been watching me,” Draco said with a smile.

“Yep, I sound like a stalker,” Sebastian answered.

There were still a few things Draco was confused about and they were all Muggle. _Blue eyes_ was a Muggle, he had some sort of a Muggle alarm system attached to his wrist, and he was going to fly. _How do Muggles fly?_ Draco remembered seeing something about Muggle transportation system in his book and made another mental note to refer to it later.

“So, maybe I’ll see you here next Saturday?” Sebastian asked and Draco nodded. They kissed again and he left Draco alone on the dance floor.

Draco turned to look towards the bar, hoping Mark would be there so he could go to him. Mark was there with a look of shock on his face. Draco smiled and walked towards his friend.

“Still not bent, huh?” Mark said when Draco took a seat next to him at the bar.

“Okay, maybe a little bent,” Draco admitted.

-*-*-*-*-

The next night Draco returned to Casablanca and met up with Mark. He was sad to not see Sebastian there, but he also realised that up until the moment Sebastian had walked up to him in the loo, he’d never actually seen him before.

He asked Mark.

“No, I don’t think I have ever seen him before either. But, he’s not really my type so that doesn’t surprise me,” he answered.

Draco nodded and found it to be odd how both him and Mark had never seen Sebastian before.

“Oh hiya, Harry,” Mark said. “You missed quite the show yesterday.”

“I did?” Potter asked as he nodded hello to Draco.

Draco raised an eyebrow. _Could this be possible_? He had never seen Sebastian before and Potter hadn't been at the club the night before when Draco met Sebastian. Potter had lived in the Muggle world until he attended Hogwarts and his flat now was also in Muggle London. He could have easily changed his appearance with magic and acted like a Muggle.

“So, first kiss, huh?” Potter asked, interrupting Draco’s thoughts. Mark must have told him about the night before whilst Draco was pondering.

“Yeah,” Draco said with disdain. He glared at Potter but received no reaction. Potter was clearly acting. Draco scoffed and walked away from them. He didn’t know where to go so he went upstairs to the lounge area where he normally hung out with Mark.

A few moments later, Potter met up with him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Don’t act so innocent, Potter,” Draco spat out.

“What are you talking about, Draco?” Potter looked confused. He was indeed a good actor. Draco didn’t answer and simply stared out into the crowd, ignoring Potter. He stood next to Draco for a few minutes until someone from the floor waved at him and he walked off.

 _Fine. Two can play this game_ , Draco thought to himself. He wasn’t really sure what that meant, but he wanted to fool Potter as Potter had fooled him.

Draco stayed at Casablanca with Mark until Mark was off dancing with someone and Draco danced with one of his other friends. He eventually left for the night, determined to return the next week with a plan. _Sebastian_ had said he’d be back on Saturday and that’s when Draco planned on returning to Casablanca.

The week was flying by in a breeze. Draco busied himself with work, picking up double shifts and giving Nathaniel Prince time to travel and collect ingredients for their potions. It was usually Draco’s responsibility, but Draco was still fuming from how Potter had crossed him and he knew he wouldn’t be able to think straight.

Thursday night came and went and Draco didn’t go to Casablanca. Though he didn’t really owe him anything, Draco made sure to ring up Mark and inform him that he wouldn’t be attending that night. He’d become close friends with Mark and didn’t care to harm that camaraderie.

*-*-*-*

Friday morning Draco opened up shop at 8 o’clock and began cataloguing new merchandise when he heard the doorbell chime. The only person who’d ever come in that early at the shop in the past had been Hermione Granger. She was the only one, Draco knew, who was determined enough to have an early start to her day. Therefore, Draco was shocked to see Potter standing in front of him in all his Auror glory.

“Potter, can I help you with something?” Draco asked, noticing that Potter had arrived sans partner.

“You didn’t come out last night, so I just wanted to check in on you before I head off to work,” Potter said.

“Why do you care?” Draco retorted.

“I thought we were past that,” Potter said. He looked hesitant for a moment and Draco wondered if it was because Potter couldn’t decide whether to call him ‘Draco’ or ‘Malfoy’. “I thought we were becoming friends?” he added. “You’d rung up Mark to inform him you weren’t attending, so I thought I’d check in on you.”

“Again, I don’t need you to check in on me, Potter,” Draco snapped. “And why does it matter if I didn’t show last night? You weren’t there last Friday!” He had noticed Potter’s absence but was distracted by Sebastian. Sebastian—who may very well have been Potter for all Draco knew.

“Angelina had the baby last week so I was at the hospital,” Potter answered. Draco was clueless to what Potter was on about. “Angelina…Weasley? George Weasley’s wife?”

“Oh, yeah. Weasley,” Draco said. He didn’t know anything about whom was married to whom in the Weasley clan. All he knew that was Granger was engaged to Ron.

“Yeah, she alright?” Draco asked. He may not give two licks about the Weasleys, but he still wasn’t _completely_ heartless.

“Yeah, she’s great and the baby’s doing great. Fred.” Draco raised an eyebrow. “They named him Fred after—"

“I know whom it’s after, Potter,” Draco snapped. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of the war—about the people that had been lost—about how he had been on the wrong side.

“I am sorry, I didn’t come here to talk about—to bring up old—" Potter paused. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Maybe I’ll see you tonight?”

“I doubt it. I think I am going to Rain tonight. I’ll be there tomorrow. I’ve got—sort of a date—I think. I am sure you know all about it,” Draco said. _Given it might be you_.

“Why would I know about it?” Potter asked, puzzled.

“Whatever, I’ll see you, Potter. Unless there’s something else?” Draco raised an eyebrow with his question.

“No. Have a good time at Rain. I’ll see you tomorrow night then, maybe.” Potter didn’t wait for Draco to respond and turned around and walked away.

As Draco looked out the window and watched Potter Disapparate away, he couldn’t help but wonder about Potter’s tone. Was Potter really that good of an actor? He sounded confused when Draco had mentioned his date and he seemed a bit disappointed at the fact that Draco wasn’t going to the club that night. Draco hadn’t planned on going to Rain and he wasn’t going to go; he just didn’t wish to tell Potter that he simply wanted to stay home and catch up on his reading. Ever since Draco had introduced himself to this lifestyle, he’d fallen severely behind on his potions research. He looked forward to having a few quiet nights in with the potions manuscripts written by Snape that were published after his death.

When one of Draco’s subordinates arrived at the shop, he excused himself and went into the employee room in search of the _Prophet_ from a week before. He found the one from the Saturday before and the “birth announcement” was indeed there. Angelina Weasley had given birth to Fred Weasley, named after George’s deceased twin brother. But that didn’t mean anything, Potter still could be playing tricks on Draco. He needed to expose Potter’s deception for himself.

-*-*-*-*-

As Draco dressed on Saturday night, the idea of seeing Sebastian again excited him. He really planned on having some fun. He was going to tease the heck out of Sebastian. He wanted to see Potter after he had his fun.

Draco walked into Casablanca looking the best he’d ever appeared. He had Mark to thank for that. When he spotted Mark on the dance floor, his reaction had been exactly what Draco had hoped for. Mark left the bloke he was dancing with behind and walked up to Draco.

“You. Look. Hot,” Mark said and Draco simply grinned. “He’s here and searching for you.”

“Who?” Draco asked.

“Blue eyes—I mean, Sebastian, of course,” Mark answered, glaring at Draco. “You’ve only been too excited to see him and that’s all you talked about last week at lunch!” Draco nodded, looking towards the floor searching. “How was Rain?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you go to Rain last night, that’s what Harry told me,” Mark answered.

“Oh, I ended up not going. I got stuck with—work stuff,” Draco answered. “Is he here?”

“Who?”

“Potter, of course,” Draco said, mocking Mark.

“No, haven’t seen him yet. He said something about a baby in the family—that he might be late—”

“Draco.” 

Draco and Mark turned to look at the person who stood next to them. Sebastian smiled when he saw Draco and nodded a hello at Mark. Mark nodded in return and walked away.

“Hi,” Draco said. “How was your trip?” Draco had managed to read up on the chapter of Muggle aeroplanes and learned all about how they worked.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow and Draco immediately thought that _blue eyes_ was definitely hiding something. “It was—eventful—to say the least, but it was—I can’t really talk about it.”

 

_Yeah, can’t really talk about it because you’re a liar!_

 

“Dance?” Draco asked and Sebastian agreed. Draco pulled him to the dance floor and Sebastian immediately wrapped his arms around Draco’s waist. Draco turned Sebastian around so they would grind to the music. Draco had never actually done this with anyone besides Mark before and with Mark it had been more of a tutorial. Draco had confessed to Mark that he didn’t know how to dance. That wasn’t entirely the truth; he just didn’t know how to dance like a Muggle, a gay Muggle, even though he wasn’t bent—at that time.

Now he was thankful that Mark had still taught him ‘the moves.’

Draco moved smoothly to the music as Sebastian pushed back into him. They danced together and Draco teased Sebastian the best he could. His hands slid into Sebastian’s black hair as he tugged on the locks. Sebastian leaned back and pressed his lips on Draco’s neck and Draco shivered with pleasure. This wasn’t going exactly the way Draco had imagined. Sure, he’d imagined Sebastian dancing with him, but his movements, his responses to Draco’s touch were genuine. Sebastian seemed to enjoy Draco’s caresses. Draco still wasn’t sure if this was Potter or not, as Potter was nowhere to be seen—but whoever this individual was that was dancing with Draco wasn’t having him on.

Draco abruptly turned Sebastian around and stared into his eyes again looking for something, an inclination, or some sort of an indication.

“What’s the matter?” Sebastian asked.

“Nothing,” Draco answered with a smile. “It seems as though you genuinely like me,” Draco blurted out. He didn’t know what possessed him to say that.

“I thought that much was obvious,” Sebastian answered. “Didn’t I tell you how I’ve seen you around—”

“Yeah, about that,” Draco interrupted Sebastian. “Why haven’t I seen you before? I asked Mark and he said he hadn’t seen you before last week either. If you’ve been here then—"

“I am good at hiding in the shadows,” Sebastian answered. “I usually got my drink at the bar and went upstairs there—" Sebastian pointed at a corner balcony on the floor above. It was opposite of where Draco usually stood with Mark. “I’d watch from there and you caught my eye—"

“Right,” Draco said, thinking that if Sebastian had really been at the balcony across from him, he would have seen the bloke. A familiar beeping sound rung in Draco’s ears. Sebastian had his arms around Draco’s neck and the watch was right next to his right ear.

“Oh, not again,” Sebastian groaned. “I am sorry, I’ve got to go and use my mobile. I’ve left it in the car.”

Draco nodded. He knew of mobile phones, and cars, obviously. Potter was doing a good job pretending to be a Muggle. Sebastian walked away and Draco returned to the bar. Mark met up with him immediately after.

“What happened to your boy toy?” Mark asked.

“He had to go use the mobile or something,” Draco muttered after gesturing to the bartender for his drink.

“Why do you look so upset? You seemed to be hitting it off great with him on the dance floor and all the blokes here are jealous of him,” Mark said.

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?” Mark scoffed and then shook his head.

“You’re the virgin—you’ve been the virgin for months!”

“The virgin?” Draco asked.

“Yeah, fresh meat,” Mark said, puzzling Draco further. “When you first got here everyone was curious because nobody knew who you were, but then we all found out you’re friends with Harry.”

“Potter and I were never friends,” Draco retorted.

“Yes, I know that, but everyone else had just seen you two talking so they figured you were friends. Harry had warned each and every one that they better not—" Mark paused.

“Better not what?” Draco asked.

“Harry will _kill_ me for this. That they better not fuck with you,” Mark said. “That you weren’t just some twink that was fresh meat, and that if anyone hurt you in any way, they would answer to him.”

Draco rolled his eyes. Leave it to Potter to become the self-appointed hero of the Muggle universe, Auror by day, twink rescuer by night. Draco was further annoyed for being called a twink. Yeah—he had become well versed in Muggle homosexual culture and frequented _Time Out_ with Mark a few times.

“Does he do this for everyone?” Draco asked and Mark seemed puzzled by his question. “Potter, threaten the patrons as guardian of the innocents?” The sarcasm in Draco’s tone could not have been clearer.

Mark shook his head. “Not really, he’s broken up a few fights in the back alley, but besides that he hasn’t really _claimed_ anyone before.”

“Claimed?” Draco roared. “He’s claimed me?”

“Well, obviously not, because here you are with Sebastian.” Mark gestured with his eyes and Draco turned to look.

Sebastian seemed to have returned from his errand and he looked disappointed. “Something the matter?” Draco asked.

“I’ve got to run, an emergency—a work emergency—has come up and—” Sebastian paused briefly. “Would you like to have dinner tomorrow night?”

“I can’t, I am busy,” Draco lied.

“Oh,” Sebastian replied, looking thoroughly disappointed.

“Maybe I’ll see you back here, next week?” Draco asked. He didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah, Thursday?” Sebastian asked and Draco raised an eyebrow. Potter had shown up at the shop last week since Draco didn’t come out last Thursday.

“Sure,” Draco answered.

Sebastian took Draco’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “It was good to see you again and I had fun,” he said to which Draco smiled. “I look forward to seeing you again, Draco,” he added. Draco looked down at his hand that Sebastian held and rubbed his thumb on Sebastian’s wrist. He smiled and as he looked towards him again, Sebastian leaned in and kissed Draco. Draco placed his hand behind Sebastian’s neck and pulled him in as he kissed him back.

A few moments later they separated, and Draco looked deep into the blue eyes again. For the first time, Draco realised that he’d wished he was looking into a set that weren’t so blue but instead were emerald green.

 _Bloody hell_.

Sebastian quickly pecked on Draco’s lips again and left. Draco simply stood there winded, wondering if that indeed was Potter and how in the bloody hell had he just wished it was.

“That was hot,” Mark remarked as Draco turned to take a seat on the barstool.

“Hello.” Draco sprang up when he heard Potter’s voice.

“Harry, you missed him _again_!” Mark remarked.

“I did? Oh, that’s too bad. But I do think I caught a glimpse of him from the other side of the room as everyone turned to watch you two snogging,” Potter answered. Draco rolled his eyes. “It was quite the sight to see, actually.” Potter teased Draco some more.

Draco was frustrated as he walked away. Stupid Potter had managed to ruin everything. Draco was more and more convinced now that Sebastian was none other than Potter himself. He was always around when Potter wasn’t and Potter would miraculously show up after Sebastian had left. What was worse was that now Draco was confused about his feelings. He was beginning to realise that he had a crush on Potter. This was the worst night, ever. Okay, the night Dumbledore died was the worst night ever, but still, this was just something Draco wished he could forget. Only if _Obliviate_ Charms worked on oneself. Draco let out an exasperated sigh as he sat on the sofa by the balcony overlooking the dance floor.

“What’s the matter?” Potter had apparently decided to follow him.

“Don’t act like you’re just all so innocent, Potter,” Draco retorted. “I know what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing?”

“You told everyone here to keep away from me? So you could put a claim on me?” Draco remembered his conversation with Mark a few minutes prior. Though he didn’t have enough concrete evidence to prove that Sebastian was Potter, he still had enough information to confront Potter about another matter.

Draco watched as Potter’s chest rose and fell. “Mark told you that, did he?” Draco nodded angrily. “It wasn’t to place my _claim_ on you—that’s just how these—I mean Muggles, operate. Once you tell someone to stay away from them or to not hurt them, they make it seem like I am an Alpha or something and I’ve placed my assertion. I just—I told you this before, Draco—" Draco rolled his eyes upon hearing his name. “I want to be your friend and I thought we were sort of becoming that over these past few months. I just know how tough it can be when you’re new into the culture. I just didn’t want you to hate Muggles if a seedy one tried to take advantage of you. So, I just wanted to ensure that you simply had the best Muggle-Wizard interaction.”

“And Sebastian?” Draco asked.

“Well, I haven’t met the bloke, but from what I hear, he sounds like a decent Muggle,” Harry answered and Draco scoffed again.

“Right,” he said as he stood up and walked away.

Before leaving Draco met up with Mark. “Don’t bring him to lunch tomorrow.” Mark nodded in acknowledgement and Draco was out the door.

-*-*-*-*-

Draco was still annoyed the next day, although, he wasn’t really sure why. Was he cross with Potter because of the whole _claiming_ story or was it because he had disguised himself as Sebastian and was toying with him? Had Potter only wanted to snog Draco and that’s why he’d told everyone to stay away from him? And now? All of a sudden a new bloke came into the establishment and kissed Draco without reservation and everyone was okay with it? That was an unlikely story.

When Draco met up with Mark at Café Renault, he didn’t wish to discuss his foul mood. Instead, he told Mark to talk about his latest exploits. Of all the friends that Draco had made, Mark was the only one, besides Potter he assumed, who was aware of the fact that Draco had never had sex with a bloke. He never told Potter this information but he figured Potter somehow knew. So he liked to sit once in a while and simply hear Mark chat about his own sexual voyage; it beat listening to Pansy or Blaise discuss their heterosexual activities. This was the only thing that had managed to take Draco’s mind off of things—usually had been the only thing—but now Draco couldn’t help but wonder how it would be like to be with Sebastian—to be with Potter.

Gods, Draco hated Potter.

The rest of the week Draco continued to submerge himself in work again. At work he organised and catalogued each item in their inventory, driving his assistants mad, and at home he stayed awake late into the night reading up on Snape’s private potions manuscripts. By the time Thursday rolled around, Nathaniel Prince told Draco to take Friday off.

“Why?” he asked.

“You seem quite stressed, so why don’t you go out to your little Muggle establishment tonight and sleep in tomorrow?” Prince said. Draco raised an eyebrow; he was confused, shocked, embarrassed, how did Prince know? “You left one of your Muggle magazines in the lounge. I took the liberty of looking through it and then hid it away before any of the junior attendants came upon it. Don’t worry, son, your secret is safe with me.”

Now, Draco was further frustrated. Potter was ruining everything. He’d pop up in Draco’s dreams, one eye green, one eye blue, he would tease him before disappearing, and Draco would wake up nearly hard every morning. And now? Draco was blundering up at work! Something needed to be done, soon.

Draco was going to tease Sebastian, nearly seduce him, and get him to admit that he wasn’t some mystery Muggle man who had to be whisked away in the middle of the night, and that he really was Potter.

Thursday night Draco arrived late at the club. He was a regular now so he no longer needed to wait in queue. He’d learned about _guest lists_ and _VIP lists_ from _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_ and had learned to put that virtue into practise. When Draco arrived, he spotted Sebastian immediately. He went in straight for a deep kiss and pulled him to the dance floor. He walked past Mark, all but ignoring him. Draco made a mental note of apologising to him later. They danced as Sebastian was grinding on Draco and Draco was teasing Sebastian with his arse. Draco had turned him on instantly and Draco felt his erection. The idea that Draco turned Potter on intrigued him. Even though he would hear Sebastian’s voice, look into the blue eyes, Draco only thought of him as Potter.

After a few more songs, Draco turned to Sebastian and whispered in his ear. “I’ve got to go, maybe we can continue this tomorrow night?”

Sebastian looked bewildered. “Oh, okay,” he uttered. “Can I give you a lift somewhere?” he asked.

Draco smiled and shook his head and walked away. As he was leaving, Draco turned to Mark and winked. Mark smiled at Draco and waved goodbye along with blowing a kiss towards him. Draco chuckled. If only his father could see him now, cohering with Muggles. 

He stood outside Casablanca. It was a clear night and the weather was surprisingly temperate. Draco wasn’t sure what he was waiting for but he just waited. A few minutes later, Potter showed up.

“Malfoy, you’re leaving?” Potted asked.

“Yeah, I suppose I am,” Draco replied with a smirk.

“I just came out for some air. I saw you in there, with Sebastian, I presume,” Potter said.

“Yet, you didn’t come by to say hello,” Draco answered.

“Well, you seemed sort of occupied,” Potter answered with a hint of resentment in his tone.

“Perhaps tomorrow night then? A proper introduction?” Draco asked, his tone purposely a bit flirtatious. _Potter is such a fool_. Potter nodded in confusion. Draco said his goodbyes and walked around the club to a dark alley to Disapparate home.

The next night, Draco arrived early and spotted Potter with Mark. He must have had his smirk on because Potter looked worried. He stopped by at the bar and purchased three drinks for them.

“Where’s your bloke?” Potter asked. _Some nerve_.

“Not sure, we don’t really make plans more than just to meet here sometime during the night, so we’ll see how the night goes,” Draco replied rather nonchalantly.

Another man, with auburn hair and light skin, walked up to the three of them and placed his hand on Potter’s shoulder. Potter turned to look at him and grinned. “Oh hey, you’re early,” Potter said. “Well, see you mates in a bit.” Potter walked away with the other man, leaving a feeling of jealousy in the pit of Draco’s stomach.

“You don’t look so happy,” Mark said. “You should tell him that you like him,” he added. Draco turned to look at Mark with disbelief. “Granted, it might be a bit difficult given you’ve gotten into the habit of shoving your tongue down another man’s throat.”

“So what makes you think I like _him_?” Draco said, pointing towards the direction Potter had gone to.

“That look on your face,” Mark said.

“What look?” Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. Was he that obvious?

“I don’t know what the expression means, but I’ve heard Harry use it once with another man, named Charlie—”

“Weasley?” Draco exclaimed.

“Yeah, his brother’s best mates with Harry, right?” Mark asked as Draco nodded. “Yeah so I heard them—”

“What’s the expression?” Draco asked intriguingly, along with another question beckoning in the back of his mind, _how has Mark met the Weasleys_?

“As though someone kicked you off your broom,” Mark said, sounding confused and Draco erupted into laughter. “You know what it means?”

Draco nodded. “It’s just an expression. It’s cute to see you use it though,” he added. “How did you meet Charlie?”

“Harry brought him here one time. Charlie lives in Romania, he’s gay and not out, something to do with his work. So when he was visiting for holiday last year, Harry brought him and he seemed to have a good time.” Mark took a sip of his drink and looked out longingly onto the dance floor.

“You fancy Charlie?” Draco observed. It wasn’t a question—it was quite obvious—it all made sense. Why Mark was so close with Harry and how Mark always said what his _type_ was. There was something familiar about the types of men Mark danced with; they all had red hair and freckles. Draco couldn’t believe his luck, the only _real_ Muggle friend he had—fancied a Weasley.

“So what happened between you two?” Draco asked.

“We had a nice time together but he said he couldn’t pursue a long-distance relationship and it ended. I’ve tried to forget him—”

“I know, I’ve seen you—trying to forget,” Draco said; he wasn’t trying to be mean, and he hoped he sounded concerned. Their conversation was interrupted when Sebastian had conveniently shown up, wrapping his arms around Draco’s waist.

“Hi there, I’ve missed you,” _blue eyes_ whispered in Draco’s ear. It felt so good to be in Potter’s arms and Draco hated himself for it. “Do you want to go up to the lounge?” he asked and Draco almost immediately agreed. He hated himself for that, too.

Draco turned to look towards Mark and asked, “do you want to come hang out with us?”

Mark shook his head. “No, you boys have fun.” He winked, picked up his drink and walked away. Sebastian almost immediately pulled Draco towards the steps to go upstairs. They found an unoccupied sofa in the corner and Sebastian sat down, pulling Draco into his lap.

“You’re an eager one tonight,” Draco teased, settling himself.

“I just want to make sure they all know you’re mine,” Sebastian answered.

“Oh, so now you’re placing a claim on me?” Draco asked as though he _was_ talking to Potter. “I thought that wasn’t your style?” Sebastian gave him a confused look and before Draco could say anything else, pulled him into a kiss. Draco happily kissed him back.

They spent most of the night snogging on the sofa and Draco felt the other man’s erection pushing on his thigh. Draco was turned on as well and curious. He wanted to touch him, he wanted to place his hand on the other man and lightly rub his erection. He’d never touched anyone else before, but he also knew that’s not how he wanted to do it. Besides the fact that Draco wasn’t secure enough to take his outness to the next level, he also didn’t want to do it with a man who was in disguise. When he’d closed his eyes, he was kissing Potter, so to see someone different in front of him and know that it was really Potter was complicating everything.

Their mouths took a break from each other and Draco nibbled on Sebastian’s ear as he made his way down, dropping little kisses on his neck.

“Draco,” Sebastian moaned.

“Yeah?” whispered Draco.

“I have to leave for a trip day after tomorrow, but when I return, we should definitely go on a real date,” Sebastian said as Draco stopped and stared into the blue eyes.

“Go away again?” Draco asked.

“Yeah, but I will be here tomorrow night and we can spend more time together,” Sebastian answered. “And if you’re free for dinner on Wednesday of next week, that’ll be brilliant.”

“Before this goes any further,” Draco said, “I want you to come as yourself tomorrow night. I don’t want your games anymore.”

“I don’t understand,” Sebastian answered.

“If you want me, I need you to claim me as yourself,” Draco announced. Shortly after, he got up off the sofa and Sebastian’s lap. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Draco walked away without looking back.

The next night Draco met up with Mark for dinner before going to Casablanca. Draco wanted to give his undivided attention to Mark if he wished to talk about Charlie. Over the months he had grown quite close with Mark and genuinely cared for the bloke as he did for Pansy and Blaise. He’d even considered introducing them in the future—however, how his pure-blood friends would take to meeting a Muggle was a baffling thought. It would definitely be something he’d have to ease his friends into.

When they arrived at the club, they took their usual spot at the bar and ordered drinks. Shortly after, Sebastian stopped by. Draco looked at Sebastian with surprise. He had truly thought that Potter was going to come in his true self. He didn’t understand, so naturally Draco glared at him.

“What’s the matter?” Sebastian asked.

“Nothing,” Draco replied curtly.

Mark must have realised the tension that built inside Draco and took it as a sign. He grabbed his drink and left the two men alone. Sebastian immediately leaned in and kissed Draco softly. Draco closed his eyes and allowed for the kiss to continue. He had really hoped that he would be kissing Potter in his true self by that moment.

“Potter,” Draco whispered.

“Sebastian,” the other man answered.

“Why do you insist on keeping up with the façade?” Draco asked before pulling him back into a kiss, gently sliding his tongue in the other man’s mouth. They stopped talking for a while until they parted for mere inches to take a breath and Draco whispered again. “Potter.”

“Who. Is. Potter?” Sebastian asked firmly, his voice full of contempt.

“Well, this is awkward.” Draco heard a voice all too familiar from his right, but not from the man he’d been snogging. Draco nearly gasped with horror; Potter was standing on his right, whilst Sebastian was nearly on top of him.

Draco was an idiot.

-*-*-*-*-

Draco’s heart sank. How could he have been so stupid? Unable to breathe, unable to cope with his ridiculous mistake, Draco slightly pushed Sebastian away and ran out of the club. He hid in the alley around the corner from Casablanca, took out his wand and cast a Notice-Me-Not spell on himself. Moments later he saw Potter. Potter must have chased after him and came around to the alleyway.

“Draco, what’s the matter?” Potter asked, looking worried.

 _Stupid Aurors_ , Draco thought to himself.

“You can see me?” Draco whispered as a test. Since Potter had already asked him of his well-being and given that Potter was an Auror, there was no doubt that he could in fact see him.

“Yeah, the Aurors are trained in detection of several veiling spells and all the impression Charms—it helps catch the suspects easily…” Potter paused for a moment. “Besides being dead and coming alive has its own perks,” he added. “But that’s a story for another day.”

Draco nodded, he was still out of breath, his heart still racing.

Potter asked again. “What is the matter, Draco? Why won’t you just talk to me?”

“I thought—" Draco huffed. “I thought he was you, you were him.” Draco pointed towards the end of the alley towards the club.

“Who?” Potter asked, looking towards where Draco had pointed.

“Blue eyes,” Draco said. He chuckled a little bit; after all this time, he still just called him that.

“Sebastian?” Potter exclaimed.

“Yeah, when he approached me, the way he talked to me—everything about him—just reminded me of you and I thought you were deceiving me. Maybe that you—I don’t know—fancied me and since I always refused to dance with you or spent time with you when Mark wasn’t around that—maybe you thought you could get me to fall for you,” Draco answered, looking at his feet. He continued to feel foolish. “Besides, you two were never in the same vicinity—so it was easy to assume—that you’d turn yourself into a blue-eyed Muggle to fool me.”

“Draco, that’s—”

“Besides,” Draco interrupted Potter. “You’re an Auror; you’re probably used to going undercover all the time. Assuming a different identity could come easily to you.”

“Draco, I would _never_ make you fall for me by pretending to be someone else. That wouldn’t even make any sense,” Potter answered.

“It would when you would just want to have me on. A good story to tell your mates at the Burrow,” Draco replied.

“Is that really what you think of me?” Potter asked.

Draco didn’t know what to say. It really was something he would have done—so why not? He shrugged in response to Potter’s question.

“So you’ve fallen for Sebastian, then?” Potter spoke again.

Draco looked up. Had he? If it wasn’t Potter, then Sebastian was his own person. Had he inadvertently begun to fancy _blue eyes_?

“I—” Draco was at a loss for words.

“He must be looking for you, you should go back to the poor bloke before he has to run off again,” Potter said. Draco looked up and caught the expression in Potter’s eyes that he was evidently trying to hide.

“What?” Draco asked. “How do you know—?”

“Harry!” Mark came running towards Potter and Draco. Draco realised that his incantation was still on and Mark probably didn’t see him. “Have you seen Draco? That bloke Sebastian is looking for him. Why did he run off like that?” Potter looked towards Draco. “Why are you staring at the wall?” Mark asked.

Potter took out his wand and Draco panicked for a brief moment. “ _Finite Incantatem_ ,” Potter whispered and Mark jumped.

“Potter! He’s a —”

“Muggle, I know. But he’s aware,” Potter said as Mark looked guiltily at him.

“But I thought—”

“Charlie sort of set the curtains on fire one time,” Mark said. “I didn’t know what had happened, but it happened several times before he finally explained it to me. I was scared, but he gave me the option of making me forget and I turned him down.”

“If the Ministry finds out—”

“The Ministry knows. The moment Charlie told me, I had a conversation with Kingsley about it. With Mark’s permission—we’ve placed him under a spell that even though he’s aware of our existence, he isn’t allowed to discuss it with any Muggle. It’s physically impossible for him to talk about it.” Mark nodded along with whatever Potter said.

“Oh.”

“Sebastian,” Mark reminded Draco. “He’s in there.” He pointed towards the club and Draco nodded. “I’ll go tell him that you’ll be in shortly.” Mark smiled at Potter and Draco watched him walk away.

“Come on,” Potter said to Draco, offering his hand and pulling him from against the wall.

“So Weasley really broke it off with him because of the long distance thing?” Draco asked keeping the discussion away from the topic of Potter and Sebastian.

Potter sighed. “Not really. Mark didn’t think he would ever be good enough because he’s a Muggle and that Charlie would probably want someone who could also do magic. He sort of broke it off because he was falling for Charlie and falling hard. He thought of it as protecting himself. Charlie understood and they decided that if anyone ever asks, that’s what they’ll say—that the long distance thing was the reason.”

“So now he’s here, night after night, working hard to find a replacement, an _imitation_ of what he’s lost,” Draco said.

“Yeah, but he knows, as we all do, I suppose, that an imitation is not the real thing,” Potter replied. Draco was about to say something but they’d reached the doors to the club and he looked up to see Sebastian.

“Well, see you around, Draco,” Potter said as he nodded towards Sebastian and walked away.

“Is everything alright, Draco?” Sebastian asked.

Draco nodded. Sebastian leaned in to kiss Draco again and Draco once again allowed it. Realising that he wasn’t kissing Potter made everything simple. Sebastian was an imitation and Potter was the real thing. It was all so clear in that moment. Draco had been so committed in not falling for Potter, that he’d fallen for the first person that reminded Draco of him.

Draco stopped and pulled back from Sebastian, his inquisitive eyes searching for an answer.

“I am sorry, I can’t do this,” Draco said. “I am sorry, Sebastian.”

“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked.

“You’re not the real thing,” Draco responded and rushed through the doors looking for Potter.

Sebastian ran after Draco and pulled on his arm. “Wait, Draco. I don’t understand. I thought that you liked me?” He looked confused and perhaps a bit hurt, and his grip on Draco’s arm tightened as though he wasn’t ready to let him go without a fight. 

Draco sighed. The fact that he’d completely led someone on and for the wrong reasons caught up with him. He did his best to describe his situation to Sebastian. How his mind was playing tricks on him and he thought he liked Sebastian when he realised that he actually fancied someone else. Sebastian seemed to understand and nodded. As Draco was about to walk away again, Sebastian gave him a hug and whispered, “Go get him, he’ll be a fool to not want you back.”

Draco spotted Potter at the bar with Mark as they drank a shot of something. Draco caught up to them; he placed his hand on Potter’s shoulder and turned him around.

“Draco?” Potter asked. “What’s the matter?”

Draco pulled Potter in towards him and without answering any questions, leaned in and sucked on Potter’s lower lip. Potter immediately responded by tightening his grasp around Draco’s waist and kissing him back. When they pulled apart, Draco looked into Potter’s eyes that were equally inquisitive as Sebastian’s had been, but Draco seemed to prefer them.

Draco grinned. “I don’t wish to settle for an imitation.”

“So not fallen for Sebastian then?” Potter asked with an equally cheeky grin.

“No, I’ve fallen for you,” Draco answered. “—and definitely not not-bent,” he added.

And this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Months later when they were happily in love, Potter confessed to Draco that the reason he’d never seen Sebastian and Potter in the same vicinity before was because Potter used to hide himself under the Invisibility Cloak and watch Draco dance with other men. It was the only time Draco had relaxed and genuinely smiled, and Potter didn’t wish to ruin it for him. Draco thought it was mildly disturbing, but it was not the first time he was stalked by Potter. He figured that was his fate—Potter would always be around to keep an eye on him.

_FIN_  


**Author's Note:**

> Make sure to check out [THIS POST](http://digthewriter.livejournal.com/76247.html) on my LIVEJOURNAL regarding a remix of this FIC and Charlie and Mark ART! <3


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